I've been working a lot more hours at my 'real life jobs', which makes for a lack of updates, but as it's Monday and I have the day off, I figured it was time for another edition of Money Mondays. And there's lots of stuff since last time. Let's start with the online survey world:
Opinion Outpost - this website is constantly getting good reviews, but I have to admit I almost unsubscribed from this one. It took about two months for me to qualify for any surveys, but within the last few weeks, I’ve had much better luck and actually racked up $11.50 this month! Their minimum payout is $5, so like with Lightspeed a few weeks ago, this is well over usual expectations. The site only pays by check or by Amazon Gift Code, but I received my check in about two weeks.
SurveySpot - this is a tricky one. For years, this site received spectacular reviews, but opinions have drastically fallen since changing to a point system in late 2009. I joined since the change over, and did notice it taking forever for points to be credited, and an absurd amount of surveys only rewarding sweepstakes entries. My suggestion, if you have the time, is to spend your first month and try them all to build up a good history with the company, then just spend time on the ones that actually credit points after that. I managed to cash out instantly via PayPal for $12.00 this week, so it might be worth it to some people to slog through all those bogus invites for the paying ones.
Synovate - this is another unobtrusive site that emails relevant surveys on occasion to it’s members, and I was able to cash out for $5.00 a few weeks ago. Still waiting on the check for this one, though.
Lightspeed - cashed out again for another $5. This time, however, it’s took a bit longer for the PayPal payment to show up. It looks like they just switched to a new ordering system, so they may be working the kinks out.
Viewpoints - If you follow me on Twitter, you might have seen my urge to join this review site a few weeks ago. While in general this site doesn’t reward writers directly all the time, if you subscribe via MyPoints you can earn up to 500 points in your account. In addition to that, Viewpoints was also directly offering a limited time promotion to contribute 10 new reviews and earn a $10 Amazon Gift Card. I completed the program, so again, I’ll confirm if I actually get the card. In any case, if you like to write, it’s an easy job.
Speaking of MyPoints, my first gift card arrived this week too, and I’m about two weeks away from cashing out my next.
And finally, I managed to write another winning review and score an extra $10 in the process last month.
So if you’ve been keeping track, since starting to do online surveys in my free time from the end of November 2009, I have cashed out $75.50. This does not include the other 10-15 panels I’ve subscribed to where I haven’t met the minimum payout threshold, yet, either. So far, I have to say my experience overall with just making a little extra spending money on the side in my spare time has been very positive - I’d definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a little extra cash.
In the meantime, the free stuff continues to flow in. I’ve received two free samples of Prilosec, three packets of Emergen-C (which is great timing, too, as I seem to be developing some sort of cold this week), some dried plumbs, some artificial sweeteners (gonna try that in my coffee at work this week) and some shampoo & conditioner. One thing I should note at this point, however, that while a lot of the advertisements for these products will show small or travel-sized packaging, in real life I would say about half of the things I’ve received have actually been much smaller - usually just a small package with ‘one serving’, as it were. For instance, the Gold Bond lotion was really just a small plastic/foil packet. Several of the colognes I received were just one-use pads attached to postcards. So don’t be surprised if you don’t get the exact product pictured - but hey...it’s still free.
Showing posts with label free stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free stuff. Show all posts
Monday, March 1, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Money Mondays, v2.0
(Posting a day early as my internet at home is still out because of recent weather...not sure if I'd be able to tomorrow!)
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
As promised, here’s a little update about some convenient ways to make or save a little bit of cash online, which may be especially useful to those of you with smaller or unstable incomes, like myself:
Mypoints.com - as predicted, I ‘cashed out’ for a $10 Panera gift card the other week. So far, I think I have to say this is my favorite online cash cow - I get points for reading emails, writing reviews on certain websites, or using a few internet applications (like a weather channel desktop app or their own search toolbar). Not a lot of work at all. And get this - after I requested my gift card (which was right around 1500 points), I got a 500 point bonus for ordering the card. Yes, that’s right...I’m already a third of the way to my next one! All this for doing their smaller, ‘no purchase required’ offers; if you actually use their interface to place orders through their supported merchants (and there are a lot of them), you can rack up thousands of points on each order, which could essentially make your purchases free or close to it. Definitely recommending registering with this one.
Netverdix - I hadn't mentioned this before, but this is a smaller but well-reviewed survey site. They don't send many survey invites, but qualifying is easy, and there is no minimum to cash out. So I took a short survey back in December and automatically received a check from them this week for it. (Ok, ok...it was only two dollars, but hey - that's a cup of coffee for work tomorrow, eh?)
Free stuff updates - Hey, look what’s in the mail! I got a free energy drink mix, a book about wine, two fragrance samples (from StartSampling.com), and a sample of GoldBond Lotion from Wal-mart.
Getting paid for your junkmail? Not so much. I registered for a company that supposedly will pay you for certain junkmail and spam email (specifically, anything relating to finances - banks, credit, insurance, etc.) at the suggestion of some of my online pals. While they have (and continue to have) a very positive experience with the company, I can only assume the business is not taking new consumers on as I have yet to get any response from them after registering. Total bummer, too, since I get so much junk mail that would qualify.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Introducing: Money Mondays
So while the original (and still primary) purpose of this blog was to, simply, rant about everyday annoyances, I've gotten a surprising amount of email and Twitter feedback on my posts regarding random things to help make or save a bit of money. So every few weeks, I figured I'd post a little update about some of the stuff I've mentioned in the past, and how it's working out for me.
Paid Surveys
Hey, I've been paid. Twice now. As in, the money is in my PayPal account. So here are my results so far, and how a few others are shaping out:
1. Lightspeed - I racked up enough points to make $10 in my first month. Note that the lowest payout is $5, so I even beat the minimum here. I've been the happiest with this panel - they send a few surveys a week, most of which I qualify for and complete, and most of which are 20 minutes or less.
2. I wrote a review of some of the survey sites I use and a website paid me $10 for my article. Sweet!
3. MyPoints - I'm a measly 20 points away from a $10 gift certificate. I get 5 points for every email I read from them, so I should be placing an order for that thing the day after tomorrow.
4. InboxDollars & SendEarnings (click links on the right to help me out, mkay?) - essentially the same company, they also pay you to read emails and take a few surveys. I'm approaching $10, and the payout is $30...I should cash out sometime this summer...and all just for reading a few extra emails each day.
5. A sneaky trick for those of you who are dealing with the whole Toluna / Greenfield / Your2Cents merger - if you're sick of the low point yet way too long surveys, just log in everyday and take the paid polls. You get anywhere from 15 - 150 points per poll. Not a lot, but that's a good way to inch towards your payout while they get the survey fiasco fixed.
Free Stuff
It's too early to have received anything...but spam. As expected, a few of the things I've found have resulted in an influx of spam to my email. Good thing I'm already using a bogus email address! So be prepared if you start doing this.
Here's a few neat things I've found this week:
1. Free Book from Crown Publishing - they've got three to choose from, just pick one that looks interesting to you!
2. Free Cologne from Swiss Army - free sample of Swiss Army (yes, the people that make those watches and knives) cologne.
3. New website to add to the watch list: MySavings.com. Again, you have to register for this to get the links, but it's worth it. Lot's of stuff added daily on this one.
4. Save the Date(s): February 5th - get a free KIND bar at Starbucks (their new granola bar). February 23rd - get a free short stack of pancakes at IHOP.
5. Prilosec OTC Sample - mmn, free heartburn medicine...for those of us who just can't stay away from the spicy food.
Again, I'll let you know if/when I actually receive any of this stuff. Keep your fingers crossed, or go ahead and give it a go with me and sign up for some of these things now.
In the next Money Mondays edition: getting paid for your junk mail? Sounds too good to be true. Hopefully I'll find out soon...
Paid Surveys
Hey, I've been paid. Twice now. As in, the money is in my PayPal account. So here are my results so far, and how a few others are shaping out:
1. Lightspeed - I racked up enough points to make $10 in my first month. Note that the lowest payout is $5, so I even beat the minimum here. I've been the happiest with this panel - they send a few surveys a week, most of which I qualify for and complete, and most of which are 20 minutes or less.
2. I wrote a review of some of the survey sites I use and a website paid me $10 for my article. Sweet!
3. MyPoints - I'm a measly 20 points away from a $10 gift certificate. I get 5 points for every email I read from them, so I should be placing an order for that thing the day after tomorrow.
4. InboxDollars & SendEarnings (click links on the right to help me out, mkay?) - essentially the same company, they also pay you to read emails and take a few surveys. I'm approaching $10, and the payout is $30...I should cash out sometime this summer...and all just for reading a few extra emails each day.
5. A sneaky trick for those of you who are dealing with the whole Toluna / Greenfield / Your2Cents merger - if you're sick of the low point yet way too long surveys, just log in everyday and take the paid polls. You get anywhere from 15 - 150 points per poll. Not a lot, but that's a good way to inch towards your payout while they get the survey fiasco fixed.
Free Stuff
It's too early to have received anything...but spam. As expected, a few of the things I've found have resulted in an influx of spam to my email. Good thing I'm already using a bogus email address! So be prepared if you start doing this.
Here's a few neat things I've found this week:
1. Free Book from Crown Publishing - they've got three to choose from, just pick one that looks interesting to you!
2. Free Cologne from Swiss Army - free sample of Swiss Army (yes, the people that make those watches and knives) cologne.
3. New website to add to the watch list: MySavings.com. Again, you have to register for this to get the links, but it's worth it. Lot's of stuff added daily on this one.
4. Save the Date(s): February 5th - get a free KIND bar at Starbucks (their new granola bar). February 23rd - get a free short stack of pancakes at IHOP.
5. Prilosec OTC Sample - mmn, free heartburn medicine...for those of us who just can't stay away from the spicy food.
Again, I'll let you know if/when I actually receive any of this stuff. Keep your fingers crossed, or go ahead and give it a go with me and sign up for some of these things now.
In the next Money Mondays edition: getting paid for your junk mail? Sounds too good to be true. Hopefully I'll find out soon...
Monday, January 18, 2010
Save Money, Get it for Free
So in my quest to make/save money while partially unemployed, I've stumbled upon some legit sites that offer random freebies that are just there for the asking. So, while like my post about online surveys earlier, you won't be making any huge monetary strides with these - every little bit helps, right? Here's some sites I've found that so far seem useful:
SavingsAndCoupons.com - you have to sign up for the links, but there's a pretty extensive listing of random items you can follow through and request.
Free-Product-Samples - a blog with extensive and somewhat frequent updates about offers.
Walmart's Free Samples - Walmart even has a listing of items.
StartSampling.com - a fairly good list of interesting offers.
Bargainist.com - updated every few days or so.
Shop4Freebies.com - updated daily.
FreeGrabber.com - updated daily, or close to it.
Now, you might be thinking, why bother? How is a few samples arriving at my door in two months gonna help? Well, as I mentioned above, this isn't a huge solution. But my thought process is, if I can save a few bucks next month by not having to buy a few necessities at the store, then that extra $10 or $20 might make all the difference. For instance, today I saw offers for medications (heartburn, cold remedies, digestive aids), household products (laundry detergent, dryer sheets, window cleaner), personal products (feminine products, colognes, shampoo, lotion), business supplies (flash drives, pens, sticky notes), and even food products (toaster pastries, sweeteners, health food snacks). So imagine that in two months you're still having a hard time finding work...but instead of having to go to the store, you at least have some samples to last you through until another week and your next paycheck arrives.
At least that's my idea, anyways.
Some recommendations:
1) If you already have a PO Box, use it. I'm not sure how much junk mail any one company might send, so at least keep it confined to somewhere other than your house.
2) Use a separate email addy. If you're like me, you already have one for those online surveys you're doing in your free time, so that might be a good place to send any potential spam.
And finally, to wrap up this entry - I'm on Twitter, now! Add @SHIKrants to your following list and be notified as soon as I get irritated and rant about something new.
SavingsAndCoupons.com - you have to sign up for the links, but there's a pretty extensive listing of random items you can follow through and request.
Free-Product-Samples - a blog with extensive and somewhat frequent updates about offers.
Walmart's Free Samples - Walmart even has a listing of items.
StartSampling.com - a fairly good list of interesting offers.
Bargainist.com - updated every few days or so.
Shop4Freebies.com - updated daily.
FreeGrabber.com - updated daily, or close to it.
Now, you might be thinking, why bother? How is a few samples arriving at my door in two months gonna help? Well, as I mentioned above, this isn't a huge solution. But my thought process is, if I can save a few bucks next month by not having to buy a few necessities at the store, then that extra $10 or $20 might make all the difference. For instance, today I saw offers for medications (heartburn, cold remedies, digestive aids), household products (laundry detergent, dryer sheets, window cleaner), personal products (feminine products, colognes, shampoo, lotion), business supplies (flash drives, pens, sticky notes), and even food products (toaster pastries, sweeteners, health food snacks). So imagine that in two months you're still having a hard time finding work...but instead of having to go to the store, you at least have some samples to last you through until another week and your next paycheck arrives.
At least that's my idea, anyways.
Some recommendations:
1) If you already have a PO Box, use it. I'm not sure how much junk mail any one company might send, so at least keep it confined to somewhere other than your house.
2) Use a separate email addy. If you're like me, you already have one for those online surveys you're doing in your free time, so that might be a good place to send any potential spam.
And finally, to wrap up this entry - I'm on Twitter, now! Add @SHIKrants to your following list and be notified as soon as I get irritated and rant about something new.
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